Category: San Diego Chargers

Power over player discipline: Jones didn’t seem to mind when Goodell suspended New England quarterback Tom Brady four games for his role in the Deflategate scandal despite questionable conclusions from the findings of the investigative unit he oversees. It was a different story when the league cracked down on one of the Cowboys’ own for even murkier circumstances.

While Jones may claim one has nothing to do with the other, it’s no coincidence his objections to Goodell’s extension surfaced around the same time star running back Ezekiel Elliott was given a six-game NFL suspension under its domestic-abuse policy. Jones was insistent that Elliott should be cleared and the investigation wasn’t done “in a fair way,” per comments he made on 105.3 FM in Dallas.

Browns rookie DeShone Kizer also struggled with a pair of picks and two lost fumbles in a 19-7 loss to the Jaguars. While the Jaguars improved to 7-3 to take sole possession of first place in the AFC South, the Patriots, Vikings and Saints joined the Steelers at 8-2 while the Eagles remained the NFL’s best with a 9-1 mark.

But Jones made it clear in his halftime message to the fans, and again after Sunday’s 37-9 loss to the Eagles, that he plans on rattling plenty more cages before he’s done. “I meant what I said, in that I’ve strived in every way to make [the NFL] better, and that’s what I do,” Jones said. “And that’s what I’m going to be doing.”

Mo Hurst, DT, Michigan Michigan was going to have a hard time beating Wisconsin with the state of its quarterback position, but Hurst did all he could to try to make it happen. The 6-2, 280-pound senior defensive tackle had five tackles, including half a sack, in the 24-10 loss to the Badgers. Wisconsin was on the ropes for much of the game, and that’s because the Wolverines’ rush defense was stout.

One key stat to know: This is a different Morton than the one who pitched for the Pirates. He had a career strikeout rate of 16 percent before 2017, but suddenly fanned 26.4 percent of batters faced in 2017. Morton used to rely heavily on his sinker, but he’s throwing more four-seamers and throwing a lot harder. His fastball averaged 95.5 mph compared to 91.6 in 2015 (he was injured most of 2016). His sinker is even harder, averaging 95 mph. His curveball turned into his wipeout pitch, holding batters to a .119 average with a 44 percent K rate. So here’s your key stat: The curveball was especially dominant against lefties, a key reason he had a big reverse platoon split (.561 OPS compared to .805 for righties).

Thrown into the fire after injuries to Cleveland’s top three quarterbacks (Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn and Ken Dorsey), Gradkowski started Romeo Crennel’s final game as Browns head coach in 2008. He threw three interceptions in a 31-0 loss to Pittsburgh.

Tatum, who quite often tweeted his love of Imo’s throughout his high school and college days, has frozen pizzas shipped to his Boston-area apartment so he can enjoy the unique style of pie.

The Saints have had some good recovery time after the London trip, and it should mean more things coming together for their young defense. Because of that development and Drew Brees, this team can’t be forgotten to make things interesting in the NFC South.

The Ravens are winning while not doing much offensively beyond some power running and a few big pass plays. Whatever Joe Flacco isn’t doing in the passing game, they’re countering that with terrific pass defense.

Marshawn Lynch scored his first touchdown in nearly two years on Sunday, when he punched in a touchdown from the 3-yard line.

The touchdown gave the Raiders a 21-10 lead, and Lynch’s first touchdown in his hometown.

It was Lynch’s first touchdown since Nov. 15, 2015. That score came in the Seahawks’ ninth game of the season, where Lynch had eight carries for 42 yards and one touchdown.

Prior to Lynch getting into the end zone, he put some punishment on Jets defenders earlier in the drive. It seemed inevitable that he was going to find the end zone.

The season is still young, but we’ve seen some great things out of Lynch early. Hopefully that rest didn’t come with too much rust. So far, it doesn’t seem like it.

The very next week, in the midst of heated quarterback controversy talk, Dak shut down any conversation of pulling him. Against a hot Tampa Bay team, Dak played wonderfully.

Dak became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in a playoff game. FINAL STATS: 24/38, 302 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, 7.95 AY/A, 103.5 Rating. Lost 34-31.

Dak has a history of coming back with a strong performance following a less-than-ideal outing the previous game. He has the mental toughness, the work ethic, and the determination to bounce back from any adversity that he hits. He has shown it time and time again.

With Indianapolis’ defense having fallen into decay, Ballard went for reasonably-priced volume rather than high-priced veteran signees. Only one of 11 newcomers (ex-Tennessee nose tackle Al Woods) is 30 or older.

Ballard was especially age-conscious at outside linebacker. Cole, Erik Walden (31) and the now-retired Robert Mathis (36) were replaced by Jabaal Sheard (27), Barkevious Mingo (26) and John Simon (26). Ballard also drafted an edge-rusher in Round 3 (Ohio’s Tarell Basham) after Grigson had made the position an afterthought in the draft since the 2013 selection of Bjorn Werner, a spectacular failure at pick No. 24.

Since 2004, only one rookie not drafted in the first round — Chargers third-round wide receiver Keenan Allen in 2013 — has won offensive rookie of the year. Cook, landing in a favorable spot with Minnesota, has a good chance to buck the trend. He had the three-down talent to go in Round 1, and the Vikings aggressively traded up to get him early in Round 2.

As Cook steps into a chance to replace Peterson as the Vikings’ long-term feature back, the wild card to his candidacy is the health of free-agent addition Latavius Murray. Regardless of how Murray comes back from his ankle surgery, he is headed to a more limited power-back role behind Cook. The Vikings also need much better run blocking to facilitate Cook’s production. He might be too good to keep off the field, allowing him to bolster his value as a receiver on third downs.

The Browns selected Jabrill Peppers in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, even after the former Michigan safety tested positive for a dilute sample at the NFL Combine in March.

Now former ESPN Radio Cleveland host Sabrina Parr thinks it was a mistake by the Browns and explained why Wednesday morning.

While comparing Peppers to troubled Browns receiver Josh Gordon, who has a long history of substance abuse, Parr believes Peppers also abuses drugs.

WKNR announced Wednesday night it had terminated Parr’s employment.

“He’s on the lean and the molly,” Parr said on “The Really Big Show” on ESPN 850. “The guy’s not going to make it. He’s not going to make it through the season.

“He’s another Josh Gordon … I’ve seen it first-hand from a different vantage point, and it’s the same thing all over again. How are you already high out of your mind, and you’ve only been here for a week.”

Even after show hosts Tony Rizzo and Aaron Goldhammer tried to get Parr to walk back her statements, she doubled down and even joked that 10-time Pro Bowler Joe Thomas was “on the lean,” which is also known as “purple drink” or “sizzurp.”

“I guess I can’t say certain things,” Parr said before she was interrupted by one of her co-hosts with, “No. You can’t.”

Parr tried to defend herself on Twitter, saying her comments were taken out of context, but later deleted the tweet.

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The woman went to a local hospital for evaluation, and declined to speak to police afterward. An attorney representing the alleged victim, Patrick Thomas, spoke to Cleveland.com on her behalf.

As you can imagine, any victim, any woman that has to endure a sexual assault, so it’s been a very difficult few weeks at this point, Thomas said. It has been even more difficult with the media coverage.

Conley released a statement about the allegations. This game, which the wide receiver finished with seven catches for 143 yards, shows Dupre has a huge catching radius. Standing at 6’3, the LSU product’s size will give his new QB a big target. Dupre’s height and outstanding leaping ability — he reached 39.5 inches at the Combine — provides an advantage in battling for 50-50 balls as well.

Carlos Ruiz Authentic Jersey Indeed, the quarterback play at LSU is one of the reasons why Dupre doesn’t have eye-popping stats. Then again, some of the fault lies at his feet.

While Dupre is plenty athletic — he ran a 4.52 40 at the Combine — he struggles with making contested catches in tight spaces. In the NFL, he won’t be able to race past defenders with ease; there’s nothing but tight spaces, so he’ll have to use his size to shield defenders and corral passes.

Speaking of Dupre’s size, he consistently struggled with getting off press coverage, a type of coverage he’ll see a lot at the next level. While he has the height and athleticism to thrive at receiver, he needs to bulk up and gain strength. Dupre only weighs 196 pounds.

He also struggled as a run blocker, although he was given plenty of chances to ply his craft, given the LSU coaching staff’s inclination to feed Leonard Fournette.

Moss quickly rewarded our faith in the form of a 17-touchdown season that earned him Offensive Rookie of the Year. He played a major role on our 15-1 team that made it to the NFC title game.

While our draft diligence led us to select Moss, there were plenty of cases in which we rejected players due to off-field concerns. NFL execs always want to improve their teams, but players with cleaner backgrounds and similar skill sets always take precedence.

One such instance, which ended up hurting our team, was the 1995 NFL Draft, when we and 10 other teams passed on Warren Sapp. A future Hall of Fame talent, Sapp had been labeled with unconfirmed-but-harmful drug rumors before the draft. Sapp fell to Tampa Bay at No. 12, right after we selected a safe player in defensive end Derrick Alexander at No. 11.

He might as well prepare now for the pressure of trying to become Cleveland’s QB savior as a hometown product. He doesn’t offer the same winning resume, flair or ceiling of other QBs in this draft, but he does a bit of everything well enough to round out nicely under Jackson.

Yes. Their two first-rounders provide a team even as needy as Cleveland with some luxury.

Really, the Browns are so needy that a unique, athletic pass-catcher would be a big difference-making security blanket for whoever ends up as their QB. So Alabama’s O.J. Howard isn’t a stretch there. If they go QB at No. 12, the Browns should then be heavily in play for someone such as Ole Miss’ Evan Engram at No. 33.

Atlanta Falcons running back Jason Snelling has a court date of December 20 to enter a plea regarding his arrest for marijuana possession among other charges, according to Vaughn McClure.

Crabtree was placed on the physicallyunable to perform (PUP) list prior to the season after the veteran receiver suffered an Achilles injury during the offseason. The 49ers were hoping to activate Crabtree after his return to practice on Nov. 7, in time for Sunday’s crucial game against the Saints, but his return will have to wait at least one more week. The 49ers have until Nov. 28 to officially activate Crabtree or they must place him on the IR for the rest of the season.

Tight end Vernon Davis is expected to play, however, after suffering a concussion last week against the Carolina Panthers. Davis must pass one more test on Sunday to be cleared for the game, but is expected to be ready in time for the game.

The 49ers passing offense has suffered greatly this season without it’s top weapons on the field, with quarterback Colin Kaepernick averaging just 157 yards passing per game since tossing for over 400 yards against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1.

Matt McGloin. His name wasn’t known by many fans outside of Oakland, but he made a statement on a day the Houston Texans were imploding and succumbing to infighting. The rookie quarterback was filling in for Terrelle Pryor and asserted his will by throwing three touchdowns and completing 57 percent of his passes. McGloin made plays, but it turned a light on the lack of receivers in Oakland as the Raiders quarterback couldn’t throw for 200 yards due to the team’s lack of weapons.

Some #BoycottNFL fans vowed to change the channel from NFL games and stop buying products from league sponsors. There is been a long and acrimonious debate about whether the Kaepernick Effect has hurt the NFL.

But the bottom line is that TV ratings for the formerly invincible NFL fell 8 percent last season, forcing TV partners to cough up expensive make-goods to advertisers.

Lee, the director of Do the Right Thing, is not buying the that argument Kaepernick has hurt the league.

The question remains what owner and GM is going to step up and sign Colin so their team has a better chance to WIN? What Crime has Colin Committed? Look at the QB is Of all 32 teams. This is some straight up shenanigans, subterfuge, skullduggery and BS. Ya-Dig?

SN is own David Steele has questioned whether Kaepernick, who has four postseason victories and a near Super Bowl win on his resume, is being blackballed by NFL teams for his social activism.

Ramczyk said every team he met with last month at the NFL Combine made testing his football IQ a big part of the process.

Every interview I went to there was some board work or they pull up your film and have you walk through what is this play, what is your job and what is the rest of the line is job, Ramczyk said. They’ll go through protections and things like that.

Ramczyk is arm length is 33? inches, which is only considered average for left tackles, who must extend to handle opposing pass rushers (although his hand size of 10 7/8 should mitigate some of those concerns). Ramczyk also might not be cleared to participate in any pre-draft drills while he recovers from January hip surgery, which could add to concerns from clubs that he was a one-hit wonder at Wisconsin.

Cam Newton was involved in a car accident in Charlotte on Tuesday afternoon. He was loaded onto a stretcher and into an ambulance after the wreck. Newton was taken to the hospital at 12:50 p.m. ET.

The extent of Newton’s injuries does not appear to be serious. A spokesman with the Carolina Panthers told reporters that Newton suffered two transverse process fractures in his lower back. The injury could be similar to what Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo suffered in November. Romo sat out one game after fracturing two transverse processes in his back in Week 8, but was able to return in Week 10 and play well.

Plum’s 30.9 points per game this season is nearly six points more than the next best, and she hasn’t scored fewer than 21 in a game all season.

The 5’8 guard can score with a mixture of moves off the dribble, from the three-point arc, and can rack up points from the foul line. She’s incredibly efficient too, shooting 53 percent from the field, and she is the league’s 13th-best three-point shooter at 44 percent. She also shoots 89 percent from the line.

Plum dishes five assists per game to 2.6 turnovers, which given her high usage is impressive.

She’ll have at least a few more games to add to her record between the upcoming Pac-12 tournament and then the NCAA tournament. She may catch the women’s single-season scoring record by just 84 points, and if her team can make a run in March, the all-time NCAA career scoring record set by Pete Maravich, as well. She needs 270 points to surpass him.

The Houston Texans are doing what they can to keep the AFC South close, but the Indianapolis Colts keep winning and the division is getting out of reach. The Texans are 7-6, much better than they were a year ago when they had the worst record in the league. But Indianapolis is 9-4 and in firm control of the AFC South. The Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars are non-factors.